Unable to Cope
by iheartgod175
Summary: Zeeter tells Multo the real reason she's worried that Bula won't regain his memory. Set during the episode "Forget-Me-Naut". One-sided Bula/Zeeter.


**A/N: **I know I listed Multo/Zeeter as my main Zula Patrol OTP (and if I recall correctly, I think I have two fics with those two in the works), but I got hit with some major Bula/Zeeter feels. So there ya go.

This one takes place during the events of the episode "Forget-Me-Naut", one of my all-time favorite episodes. That one line from Zeeter always got to me, even when I was in middle school. In fact, I think this episode (and the episodes "A Comet's Tale" and "A Job for the Zula Dudes") got me shipping Bula/Zeeter in the first place.

Anyways, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** If The Zula Patrol: Dreamscape Crusade is of any indication, it's probably a good thing I don't own the cartoon!

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**Unable to Cope**

Night had finally come on the Zula Patrol's side of the planet, which was a relief for Zeeter as she stepped outside, feeling the cool breeze brush her face. She had to admit, it was a lovely night, with stars and a full moon decorating the midnight blue sky. On a night like this, the twins would be out roasting marshmallows, telling scary stories over a small fire, while Bula and Multo would be observing the constellations on Multo's Multoscope.

Zeeter felt the smile disappear from her face. Well, that wasn't going to be happening tonight, not with how things were right now.

The sounds of rocks against metal made her jump, and she turned to see the only other person out around the base: Bula, who was gathering rocks and putting them in the wheelbarrow, happily humming to himself without a care in the world. Gorga was at his side, as he had been since he'd first gotten back from patrol. Zeeter felt a pit of dread rise in her. She really hoped he wasn't going to overflow that wheelbarrow. She and the others had spent all day moving his impressive rock collection to Multo's lab. Multo was so wiped out that he'd decided to order takeout for dinner instead of cooking himself.

_Well, _Zeeter thought bemusedly, _that's _one _good thing that came out of this._

She had thought he was faking the whole amnesia thing...but then he couldn't recall where he was, who they were...who she was. He remembered his name at least, but now believed himself to be an asteroid miner with an extensive knowledge of rocks, and an uncanny skill at collecting them. The team tried everything they could to jog his memory, but all they could get out of him was talk about rocks.

Ever since he'd come back, she'd been inwardly kicking herself, wishing that she had followed her instincts and gone with him on patrol. Or at the very least, convinced him to come along to the rock concert. But Bula was a dedicated worker if anything, so he'd declined, insisting that they go enjoy themselves. She loved that about him, though, so she couldn't be _too_ angry at him for putting work ahead of play.

Her face grew warm at that, and she averted her gaze. That happened to be one of the many things she loved about him...

"Zeeter?"

She snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing Multo's voice right behind her, and almost fell down the hill with how fast she turned around. Multo looked at her quizzically, his eyes wide enough to where she could see the whites. "Uh, is this a bad time?" he asked.

"No, it's not," she replied. "I could use the company."

"I guess you and I had the same idea," Multo replied, giving her a light smile. "To come out and look at the stars for a while, to take my mind off of things."

"Yeah, especially after today," Zeeter said. "How have Wizzy and Wigg been handling it?"

"They're just as worried as we are, honestly, but they're trying to be positive," he answered. "Wigg said he's looking forward to seeing the Zula Academy's astronaut course."

"Figures."

Silence passed between them, and they watched as Bula continues on his rock hunt, whooping in excitement at having found another iron pyrite. Multo looked over to Zeeter's face drop.

"So...how are you holding up, Zeeter?" he began.

"Well...I'm doing okay, I guess," she replied.

"You were rather quite during dinner. It isn't like you," he continued.

"Honestly, Multo, it didn't feel right sitting at the table, not being able to talk to him," she replied. "I just...I don't know, I want our Bula to come back."

"A little more than the rest of us, I might add."

Zeeter felt her features narrow into a frown and she turned to face Multo. "What are you getting at?"

"It's just...well, er, uh...I happened to catch what you said earlier. When you were talking about what would happen if he didn't regain his memory," Multo said, and he noticed how tense she got. "You caught yourself before you blurted it to Wizzy and Wigg, but I noticed."

"You mean when I said 'how will we get along without him'?"

"Replace 'we' with 'I'," he said.

Zeeter groaned as she sat on the ground, her feet resting against the rocks. "Nobody was supposed to hear that..."

Multo sat next to her, his expression understanding as she continued with, "Bula and I have been together for as long as I can remember. We were in the Zula Scouts together, went to the Zula Academy together, even ended up on the Zula Patrol together. We know each other like the back of our hands, and there's hardly anything we don't know about each other..."

"But..."

"But there is one thing I haven't told him," she said. Her face grew warm, and her next sentence was said so softly, it was almost inaudible. "I've liked him for years now, but...either he sees me as a close friend and nothing more, or he's as dense as your Lunar Lasagna. Uh, no offense."

"None taken." He paused to let that sink in. Truth be told, he'd had a feeling that their bond was deeper than he thought, but hadn't said anything to avoid any negative reactions. "All this time, he never noticed?"

"No, but I guess part of that was my fault," she replied. "I held back because I didn't want to lose our friendship. But with the way he is now, it...it just hurts, you know? The Bula that we love...that I love...he's just _gone_."

"I don't think that's the case. I think he's still there," Multo encouraged.

"But what if he isn't? How will I be able to go on without him?" she demanded. "He'd keep me steady when things got rough. He believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. He's like my rock, and the thought of losing that is too much, Multo."

Multo frowned sadly. Zeeter sounded close to tears, and he knew that hardly anything made her cry. "Zeeter..." he started.

A rock fell on the ground in front of them, shattering the mood and scaring them senseless. Bula stood before them, wheelbarrow overflowing with rocks. His wide smile showed he hadn't heard a word of their conversation.

"Hey, guys! I got a pretty good haul in!" he replied. Looking at Multo, he asked, "You think you have enough space in the lab for my rocks?"

"Uh...maybe," Multo said slowly, recovering from his shock. Beside him, Zeeter was trying to recover her composure. "I'll see if I can make some arrangements."

"Thanks, you guys are the best," he said. He grunted as he started to push the wheelbarrow to the door, Gorga trotting behind him. "I wonder what kind of rocks I'll find tomorrow..."

Both Multo and Zeeter sighed, the tension having disappeared. "I guess we'd better go help him," she said.

"Good idea," he replied. He helped her up, but before they left, he gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Have faith, Zeeter. Things may look bad now, but everything will turn out alright in the end. I'm certain of it."

Zeeter gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Multo," she replied.

A loud crash interrupted Multo's reply. Multo and Zeeter turned around to see the doorway blocked with rocks, Bula buried underneath them. Only his antennae were visible under the pile.

"Uh...a little help please?" came Bula's muffled plea.

As they rushed to help their amnesiac captain, Zeeter thought to herself, _I sure hope Multo's right..._

**The End**

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**_That was actually shorter than I thought it would be, but I didn't want to drag it out for a long time, you know?_**

**_I really liked writing both Zeeter and Multo here. It was really hard to not make him the star of the story when it was supposed to be a Zeeter-centric fic. My bias showed a little there ^^; As for Zeeter, I was going for a balance between her being her usual self and a quieter, reflective and even somewhat bashful side (especially when her feelings for Bula were brought up). I think I did a pretty OK job ^^_**

**_But yup, a short story based around one of my favorite episodes of "The Zula Patrol". I might end up writing some more Zula Patrol short stories, since they're helping me get back into the groove of writing again, at least until I can get back on track with my other fics._**

**_Constructive criticism is great, as always!_**

**_God bless, iheartgod175_**


End file.
